South Dakota State hoped to salvage a split in its first homestand of the season, but Missouri State made sure that did not happen on Sunday, as the Bears swept the Jackrabbits 3-0 in non-conference action at Frost Arena.
The Bears won by the set scores of 25-18, 25-15 and 26-24, sending the Jacks to their ninth straight loss and a 1-9 record. MSU improves to 8-5 with the win.
Mackenzie Angner led all players with 14 kills in 41 swings. Ellyce Youngren added seven kills in 14 attempts for an impressive .357 hitting percentage. Kelli Fiegen added six kills and a team-high three block assists in the loss.
Addie Foley led Missouri State, who out-hit the Jacks .309 to .066, with 11 kills. Sara Staubach and Cara Hackmann both added seven kills for the Bears.
MSU scored the first two points of the match, and even though the Jacks kept it close, the Bears pulled away midway through the first set to secure the 25-18 win.
The Bears carried that momentum into the second set and continuously built their lead until the final 25-15 set win.
The tables turned a bit in the third set, as the Jacks opened up an early 9-7 lead. SDSU held onto that lead until the Bears came back to tie things up at 13-all.
Four ties later, MSU emerged with a 24-21 lead and looked poised to sweep the match, but the Jacks countered with a 3-0 run to tie the set at 24.
Missouri State broke the tie and scored the next two points to win the set 26-24, and the match 3-0.
The Jacks return to the road next week for a match-up at Northern Iowa on Tuesday and then return to Summit League action next Saturday at North Dakota State. First serve in both matches is scheduled for 7 p.m.